Enjoying his first school summer vacation

Its summer vacation now for my son. An excuse for sleeping late, waking up late,
more time for his toys and frequent watching of his favorite cartoons and
characters. No clock alarming @6AM, no 30 minutes time to eat breakfast, take
a bath and dress-up and no school service to fetch him @6:30AM.

Whewww!!! What a quite relief for me also by at least waking up a little late and
no pressure in reviewing my son.

But because he is deprived of going out 5 days in a week, he is always looking
forward to learning and fun-filled activities every weekend.

So even before his school vacation came, we already planned some activities and
get-aways for him to fully enjoy his first ever school summer vacation:
1. Weekdays schedule for reading, writing and learning addition and subtraction.
2. Every other week visit to his library - The Fully Booked.
3. A time for watching his favorite cartoons and characters.
4. Moderate eating of in-season fruits. He loves to eat papaya and mangoes. But
    since there was a time that his sugar test was high, I have to limit him from
    mangoes.
5. After the ACE Water SPA, maybe 2 more swimming getaway. He is beginning
    to enjoy swimming.
6. An Enchanted Kingdom treat. I want him to try the ferris wheel.
7. Since one weakness of my son is on self-expression, maybe due to his
    shyness, we will enroll him in Speech as his summer class this May.
8. Play time bonding with his cousins. 
9. A weekend schedule for online games at his lolo's house.
10. Hopefully, we can visit Everland this April.

Tons of give aways!!!

Had stumbled on this great blog site for tons of give aways from different blog sites too.

I entered on some of its give-aways. Its been a give-away joining night for me.
Hope I win.  Really, the best things in life are those that are free.

Enter this url and join too....http://gustosa-giveaways.blogspot.com/

What am I feeling right now? (March 30 - Wednesday)

Honestly, I am in one of my lowest moments. Why? I couldn't be with my son who
is scheduled to take his acceleration exam today.  Its good that my husband was
able to take a half-day leave and will be able to accompany him.  I even was not
able to prepare him for this. It was only the yaya that I requested to review him.
That is the worst of me.

Sometimes, I keep on asking myself why do I need to take this much of
responsibilities at work?  It all boils down to...if only we have much money and
have a choice, I will just be a stay-at-home-mom wherein I can fully attend to my
son's needs.  With the conclusion of the recognition day of my son wherein he got
3rd in the rank, yes I'm proud but I know Marty should have got more than that if
I was with him all the time.

Good luck Marty, I believe you can make it!!!

Its Moving Up time...

My husband and I took a leave from the office today for the Moving Up recognition
day of my son.

The Family is very excited for this time to come. Marty is on his best suit which I
just bought 2 days ago.  The Parents are just in semi-formal attire.  Marty's
yaya will also be coming with us.  She also played a big role in Marty's 1st year
of schooling. She accompanied Marty in school for the entire school year and
now that he will be  giving birth this May, I don't know if she can still be with
Marty next school year.

While waiting for the program to start, Marty is having his favorite Mocha Frapp
here in Starbucks. The occassion will be at SM Fairview Cinema 4  @ 1PM.

This was taken by Marty...

Though Marty had been consistently in the top 3 of their class, we are not over
expecting him to receive higher than that. Being on the top 3 is already a great
achievement for a young boy as 4 years old coping up to an advanced curriculum
of their school.  Whatever his rank will be, we are proud of him.

The only thing I worry about is his part in the occasion where in he will present
himself with his name, age, grade level, ambition and a saying.  He already
memorized this but I just hope that he will not be eaten up by his shyness.

So while in the house, I am keeping him in good mood.  I know, everything
will end up well today.

Happy Birthday Hon...

The Family enjoyed the big day of my husband. At *ty6(LOL), what he wished for
is just good health for the entire family. He is contented for the simple life that
we are enjoying, his work and for the achievements of Marty in school. But not
to forget, we are still working out and hoping for an addition to our family
soon.

We started the day with the Sunday mass.  We are supposed to have lunch to my
mother-in-law's place and dinner to my parents' house. But since my mother-in-law
is not available for a lunch-out, we just had our lunch at my parents' house.
While Marty is playing on the laptop, my husband took a rest. 
In the afternoon, The Father and Son had a bonding in Tom's World SM Fairview.


In as much as we want to try other resto in SM Fairview, we just decided to dine at
Napoli Pizzeria for a pasta and pizza dinner with my family. Because when Marty
is around, its only Jollibee or pizza.

We ordered the Seafood Pesto and the New Your Pizza favorite of my husband.

I added Spaghetti Meatballs for Marty.

We also ordered my all-time favorite Chicken Fingers.

And Fish Fillet with Fries to complete the meal.

For our dessert, we decided to eat the Ube-Macapuno cake that I bought
from Max at the newly opened Starbucks @ the 2nd floor. 

How we love the place because of its cool ambiance, plenty of couches,
spacious dining areas.

Marty tried the Dark Mocha Frap and just brewed coffee for me and my husband.

Here is the birthday Ube Macapuno cake from Max's resto.

As usual every time we are on a gathering, we are being entertained by Marty's
singing and dancing. That perfectly made our day.

Looking back to Marty's first year of schooling

Exactly a week from now, my son Marty will be going up the stage and will receive
his Kinder 1 completion certificate and at the same time a commencement of
another milestone on his life - Moving Up.

A quick looking back to the 1st time he experienced schooling when we enrolled
him in summer class for Phonics 1,  it was really a struggle to move him out from
his comfort zone - our house with his toys.  He attended his first class but just
slept in one corner as a show of his resentment.  Until surprisingly on the 2nd day,
he is moving out from his shell little by little and eventually became always excited
for the class. Thanks to T. Glaiza who's charm for kids made Marty  loved reading
and school.

Marty just turned 4 when their Kinder 1 class started.  He was very excited then
for the 1st day of school.  I sensed that a lot of questions ran on his mind:
will i be dressed-up like this every time i go to school, what a bag full of books
and notebooks, with matching lunch box for me to eat and is this my ride going
to school, will mama not drop me to school.  As these things became a routine
for him, he now understands. That as he grows up, there is a time for play, a time
for resting and a time for school.

With their advanced curriculum, Marty was able to cope up gradually to their
lessons.  And one great hobby that Marty acquired is his love for reading. 
I can say, that at his age of 4, he is really good in story reading. This is the
subject that he is always proud of when I ask him how's his studies.  He is
also quick and good in spelling. And a little in addition, subtraction and simple
number problems.

Of course, Marty had his own quirks too.  He has no patience in reviewing
for the Nth time.  He is always in a hurry in answering exams. And sometimes,
he does not want to be corrected.  I know that paradigm would change in due
time.

Outside the four corners of the classroom, Marty enjoyed the fun-learning
activities that the school sponsored for this year.

A field trip to Sand Magic show, Ayala Museum and Enchanted Kingdom
were educational and fun.

 

He actively participated on their school events - Buwan ng Wika.

He also had a great time playing Sebastian in their Little Mermaid show
held at SM Fairview Cinema. 

He enjoyed being little Santa Claus during their Christmas party and was able
to try the caroling.

And despite all-sweat on their Family Olympics Day, he was very happy for
getting a lot of medals.

And now while we are preparing for his Moving Up event, practicing on what
he is going to say up there, I'm on  my teary eyes.  He said that he will be an
Engineer because he want to build houses and cars. As the use of will be, he
assumed that it will happen. 

I am very proud to say that Marty's accomplishments are at par for his age.
MARTY, you made us PROUD.

A fun and refreshing ACE Water SPA bonding

At last, The Family was able to try the hydrotheraphy message
last Saturday @ACE Water SPA. For my son, it was all fun of swimming.
For the adults, it was both a refreshing SPA and swimming bonding experience.

 

Cozy place inside.

We went there with a full-stomach since eating is not allowed while inside the

swimming area. Though they have a resto, you can only eat before or after the

session. They have swimsuits for rent but we just brought ours.

They are very strict when it comes to proper hygiene. Wearing of haircap is a

must.  Underwears must be removed. Smoking, cellphone, cameras and 

videos are not allowed even inside the lockers.

Guests are provided with lockers.  The shower rooms are very clean with free

shampoo and liquid soap. It has a number of toilets too. Dressing rooms are big

enough and clean to comfortably get dressed up. The floor was covered with

rubber mat to avoid slipping. 

This was the only picture that we were able to sneak-in.

The swimming area is quite huge. Kids have several activities to enjoy. They can
walk on water and enjoy the floor fountain, have fun in the Bucket Splash, play
in the Mushroom Falls and enjoy floating around the entire pool in the Lazy River.
My son really enjoyed the Lazy River.

For the adults, it has the lap pool, the different hydrotherapy message systems,
the herbal pool that have natural herbs in different temperatures, sauna,
steam bath and 1 cold pool. Each system massages specific areas of the body

categorized as soft, moderate or hard massages.

Potable water, swimming boards and vest for kids are all available.

I tried everything except for the cold pool. I love the sauna, steam bath and
the herbal pool very much. I feel relaxed and renewed inside and out.

If you want to take a break in between, they have a resting area.

True to its name, its hydrotherapy message system with its heavenly ambiance is
really designed for relaxation, stress reduction and many healthful benefits.

After the 4 hours session, there is a complimentary soup to at least ease the

hunger.  We headed to Shakeys for a sumptuous pizza and pasta dinner after.

Thanks to CashCashPinoy who paved the way to an all new, cheaper and great

SPA and swimming experience.

We will surely come back to this place.

Contact Information:
ACE Water SPA
Opens daily 6AM-11PM
399 Del Monte Ave. SFDM,
near cor. Banawe St., Quezon City
(632) 367-8041 to 41
acewaterspa.ph

A Bounce birthday party experience

It was a fun and different party experience which my son really enjoyed  when we
attended a birthday party @ Bounce Inflatables.

Bounce Inflatables is a one-stop-shop for all party needs which includes venue,
setting up, catering, food carts, clowns, magicians, photo booths, videos and
more.  All you have to do is sit-down, relax and enjoy the party.

As its name Bounce describes, my son enjoyed the large slide inflatable and the
huge trampoline leaving him all-sweat after 2 hours of playing.

The registration area.

The venue and the arrangement.

The big inflatable slides that my son really enjoyed. And before you can slide, you

have to climb it which makes it challenging. 

The huge trampoline where kids enjoyed bouncing. 

The balls.

Resting at the pool of balls. 

Over-all, it was a great and fun party experience. Hope the management can still

add-up other inflatables varieties for both kids and kids-at-heart to enjoy.  

Thanks to Kean Miguel for a great party experience for my son Marty.  

Contact Information:

Bounce Inflatable Parties

http://www.bouncepartiesinc.com/

Warehouse A1, Prince Arcade, CTIP Compound

Ortigas Ave. Extension, Rosario

Pasig City, Metro Manila

What Makes You SPARK? - Chevrolet Photo Contest (Feb 25-Apr 22)

Let us join the What Makes You SPARK Photo Contest by Chevrolet Philippines.
For more information, visit http://www.facebook.com/notes/chevrolet-philippines/what-makes-you-spark/179797642064837

Mechanics:

1. The “What Makes You Spark?” photo contest is from February 25 @ 12:00 am to April 22, 2011 @ 11:59 pm.
2. Only one (1) photo per person will be allowed.  Submit your photo viaemail at whatmakesmespark@gmail.com.  Kindly include in your e-mail (a) a short caption telling Chevrolet Philippines what makes you SPARK, (b) your complete name, (c) birthday and (d) e-mail address.
3. Your photo must have (a) file extension: .jpg, (b) size: minimum 800 pixels & maximum of 1,200 pixels on the longest side, (c) resolution: 72 dpi, (d) profile: RGB, and (e) file name structure should be : firstname_lastname_spark.jpg.  Example: nikki_rivera_spark.jpg.
4. The first photo you submit will be considered as your official entry.
5. Your photo must be in the theme of the contest.
6. Your photo must be an original work taken by you.  If your photo was taken by someone else, you MUST have their consent to use that photo before submitting it.
7. Chevrolet Philippines reserve the right not to post any photo which is deemed offensive and is in violation of any law regarding intellectual property and you indemnify Chevrolet Philippines (TCCCI) for any violations in connection to the photo you have submitted.  Examples of photos that will not be posted include the following: (a) photos promoting illegal drug use, (b) pornographic or nudity, (c) photos depicting crimes of any nature, (d) photos promoting political ideology & (e) photos promoting competing brands
8. No purchase is required to join the contest.
9. The weekly winners will be chosen every Friday morning, cut-off will be every Thursday, 11:59pm during the contest period.
10. Weekly winners will be judged by independent judges selected by TCCCI based on creativity & originality.
11. Two grand winners will be chosen at the end of the contest: (a) The best & most original photo AND (b) People’s Choice Award which will be based on the number of “Likes”
12. The winners will be announced on or before April 29, 2011.
13. The decision of the judges will be final & binding.
14. You must be at least 18 years of age to join the contest.  You must also be a legal resident of the Philippines.  Employees of TCCCI and its ad agencies, their immediate family members are not eligible.
15. By submitting your photo, you are hereby granting TCCCI the right to use or publish your photo in print and or on our website, social media sites and other media we desire.
16. By joining the contest, you hereby agree to be bound by the Contest Rules.

Prizes:

(a) Weekly winners get P 2,500 worth of Ayala e-GC and a Chevy T-shirt.

(b) People’s Choice & Best & Most Original Photo get a Spark weekend getaway in Aquatico, Batangas.

Contest Period: February 25  - April 22, 2011

And this is my entry: Bumblebee made me spark in front of the many Chevy fans
last Feb. 19, 2011.  Bumblebee found the ALLSpark in me!!!

A Time for Self-Examination and Renewal of Faith

Today is Ash Wednesday which signifies the start of the 40-days Lent season in
preparation before Easter. As Christians, this is a season of repentance and soul-searching.

It is a time when we repent, make sacrifices, and observe fasting to have more
time reflecting on the suffering and great sacrifices that Jesus made for all of us.

As for me, Lent is a time for self-examination and renewal of faith. A time to
ask myself on these questions after which, ask for the Lord's guidance to make myself better as a Christian.
-How is my personal relationship with our Lord? Do I pray? Do I listen to HIS words?
-Am I following the 10 Commandments?
-Do I share His words to my family, friends and relatives?
-Am I sharing my blessings to others especially the helpless and the needy?
-What are the sins that are holding me back to fully accept Jesus in my life?

Lovin' reading with his new Multi-purpose Lap Tray

My son has his study table in our "sala" which he uses for his daytime studying.
At bed time where we read stories together, we often times read in a lying down
position.  I know that he is not relaxed and gets easily tired of reading immediately
because of this.

I saw this already once but was not able to buy because its a little bit pricey.
Surprisingly, I saw this on sale in Play & Display @Podium for 299PHP and
immediately grabbed it.  Too bad, they run out of stock of the color blue.
Anyways, red is unisex.

It has two pockets for side storage.  Ideal for the car, couch or bed.  Useful for
both children and adults. For food, art, or work.

My son enjoying his reading using his new lap-table.

With his fave DVDs on the side pocket.

With his other comics on the other side pocket. 

We are so happy that Marty develops his love for reading.

Another year older but wiser for my sister...

We celebrated our youngest sister's 25th birthday yesterday @ Racks 
SM Fairview.  As expected and welcomed, she was with his special someone
and was very happy with her bouquet of flowers and luscious DQ ice cream cake.

I'll just post the venue and the yummy food that we had since my sister
wanted that she'll be the one to post our pictures on her FB. Agreed.

I suggested to my sister to treat us in Racks because I already missed eating here
and we haven't tried on their SM Fairview branch yet. My husband and I love
their mouth-watering baby ribs and their super tasty side dishes.

Here's the new branch of Racks in SM Fairview.

Since we are 7, we ordered the Surf 'n' Turf which is good for 6-8 people.
My father already ordered his san mig and onion rings while waiting for us.

The mouth-watering Racks Classic Pork Ribs...

Juicy fried Fish Fillet with Fries...

Our Bolognese Spaghetti ...

 The 3 side dishes. Coleslaw. Potato Salad and Brocolli with cheese.

And lastly the luscious DQ ice cream cake. I just love its creaminess and sweet
treat up to my last spoon-full of this cake.

All in all, we had a great birthday dinner treat by my sister who just turned
another year older but wiser and more beautiful.